One phrase echoed from Europe to DC Greece’s creditors examined & then waved
thru the country’s new economic policies: “starting point.” While the month-old gov was praised for
coming up with a workable package of measures including
maintaining state-asset sales & collecting more tax, the
European Commission, ECB & IMF all warned that action speaks louder than words. The measures were a condition for extending the
availability of bailout funds for another 4 months based on
an initial agreement last week. While their approval marked another compromise in Greece’s 5-year financial crisis
for the euro region, the country finds itself in all too
familiar territory: act or face insolvency. The list is “not very specific” and doesn’t convey
“clear assurances” that reforms will happen, IMF Managing
Director Christine Lagarde wrote in a letter to the head of the
euro region’s group of finance ministers. Commission officials & ECB pres Draghi also said the key to Greece
winning more funding were “commitments” on legislation. German Chancellor Merkel said the “starting point” was welcome “if you
look at the words being exchanged a few weeks ago.” The current program, which has been keeping Europe’s most
indebted state afloat since 2010, was scheduled to expire at the
end of this month. After almost 4 weeks of negotiations, all
parties stepped back from the brink, with Prime Minister Tsipras declaring an end to austerity while creditors said
previous agreements were upheld. Now the gov doesn’t just need to offer more
details on its plan, it has to follow thru, & fast. Its
cash-flow problem still needs to be resolved, a Greek Finance
Ministry official said yesterday. Greece has until Apr to refine the details & show the
finance ministers how it will do it. Greece can’t access more
bailout funds, including the next tranche of about €7B ($7.9B), unless it passes the review. The
gov & creditors can now also begin talks on how to
overcome the cash squeeze next month, with issuance of more
Treasury bills one option to consider, the official said.

New homes in the US sold at a faster pace
than forecast in Jan, a sign of stabilization in the housing
industry. The 481K houses purchased last month at an annualized
pace were little changed from a more than 6-year high of
482K in Dec, according to the Commerce Dept. The forecast called for 470K. Employment gains & rising household formation are
underpinning demand for homes as rents rise. Borrowing costs
close to historically low levels & easing credit may help
attract more first-time buyers, who have been relatively absent
in the uneven real estate comeback. The reading for December was the strongest since 2008 &
was revised up from a previously reported 481K. The report showed a disparity among regions which could
reflect the influence of weather. Sales in the Northeast plunged
51% to record-low 15K annual rate. That was offset
by a 2.2% gain in the South, the biggest region, which
took purchases there to a more than 6-year high of 278. The median sales price was $294K, a 9.1% advance
from Jan 2014. The supply of homes held at 5.4 months at the current sales
pace. There were 218K new houses on the market at the end of
Jan, the most since Mar 2010. New-home sales account for about 7% of the
residential market & are tabulated when contracts are signed,
making them a timelier barometer than purchases of previously
owned dwellings.
In 2014, builders sold 437K new houses, the most since
2008. The market peaked at a record 1.28M in 2005 &
slumped to 306K in 2011 after the housing bubble burst (the
lowest going back to 1963.

Hewlett-Packard forecast full-year earnings well below expectations, citing the impact of a strong dollar. The company also reported fiscal Q1 revenue
below the analyst estimate. "... we believe the impact on FY15 will be significantly greater than
we anticipated in November," CEO Meg Whitman said. HPQ earned about 2/3 of its revenue from
outside the US in the year ended Oct 2014. The dollar
had risen 14.7% in the past 6 months. The company expects adjusted EPS of $3.53-$3.73 for the
full year ending Oct, missing the analysts' estimate of $3.95. Revenue dropped 4.7% to $26.8B in Q1 (ended Jan 31). Revenue from the enterprise services unit declined 11%. EPS fell to 73¢ from 74¢ a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned 92¢. Analysts expected EPS of 91¢ &
revenue of $27.3B. The stock slumped 3.56. If you would like to learn more about HPQ, click on this link:club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/HPQ?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)

This is turning out to be another quiet day in the stock market. As Janet speaks, traders' eyes are on her. Meanwhile the Greek bailout looks a bit fuzzy while fighting continues in Ukraine. Oil is sloshing around 50 & the stock market is adjusting to this lower level. It should be considered disappointing that lower oil prices are not bringing more of a lift to the economy while is hovering near record highs.